Fortunato Vizcarrondo

Fortunato Vizcarrondo Calderon (1895-1977) was an Afro-Puerto Rican composer, professor, and poet. He is best known for his poem "¿Y Tu Abuela Donde Esta?".[1][2]

Fortunato Vizcarrondo
BornFortunato Vizcarrondo Calderon
March 13, 1895
Carolina, Puerto Rico
DiedNovember 18, 1977 (aged 82)
Santurce, Puerto Rico
Resting placeCementerio Municipal de Carolina
OccupationPoet
Alma materUniversity of Puerto Rico
SpouseGenerosa Martínez Y Pérez (1918-1982)
Children8
 Literature portal

Early life

Fortunato Vizcarrondo Calderon was born on March 13, 1895, in Carolina, Puerto Rico, the son of Fortunato Vizcarrondo Y Mongrand and Rosenda Asunción Rodón Y Quiñonez.[3]

Life and career

Studied music at a young age under the tutelage of professor Manuel Barasoaín Julbe. Joined several of orchestras where he played wind instrument. Graduated as an English teacher from the University of Puerto Rico and worked as a teacher in Carolina and Río Grande for 10 years. After that he worked as mailman for the United States Postal Service. At the beginning of the 60s due to the inauguration of the music conservatory in Hato Rey got to learned more about music from that institution. Retired from the Postal Service after 26 years of service and became a music teacher where he taught in Río Grande, Vieques and Carolina where he was the director of the municipal band.

Personal life

He married Generosa Martínez Pérez in 1918, gaining a step-daughter named Iluminada Díaz Y Martínez (1917).[4] The marriage produced seven children:

  • Rosa A. (1919)
  • Fortunato, III (1920)
  • Elmer Americus (1921)
  • Aurea Asunción (1922)
  • Dolores (1926)
  • Mildred (1928)
  • Carmen Lydia (1940)

Death

In the last years of Fortunato's life, he suffered from ill health. In December 1977, he had a diabetic shock and slipped into a coma. He spent two weeks at Hospital Presbiteriano, where he died on November 18, 1977, at 82. Fortunato's body was interred in The Municipal Cemetery in Carolina.[5][6]

Works

References
  1. "Fortunato Vizcarrondo". Fundación Nacional para la Cultura Popular (in Spanish). Retrieved 2022-03-03.
  2. Puerto Rican Poetry: An Anthology from Aboriginal to Contemporary Times. University of Massachusetts Press. 2007. ISBN 978-1-55849-561-6.
  3. "Fortunato Vizcarrondo Y Martinez in the 1940 Census | Ancestry®". Ancestry.com. Retrieved 2023-05-26.
  4. Social and Population Schedules of the 1935 Special Census of Puerto Rico, compiled 1935–1936. Microfilm publication M1881, 88 rolls. ARC ID: 2791195. Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790–2007, Record Group 29. National Archives at Washington, D.C.
  5. "Carolina redescubre las aportaciones históricas de Fortunato Vizcarrondo". Periódico Presencia. 2013-05-23. Retrieved 2022-02-28.
  6. "Fortunato Vizcarrondo". www.carolina787.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 2022-02-28.
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